


Research and Rediscovery

by NeonCoffee



Series: The Inability to Trust [2]
Category: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-22
Updated: 2014-11-22
Packaged: 2018-02-26 14:35:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2655551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeonCoffee/pseuds/NeonCoffee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The aftermath of Thirteen Weeks. Bruce struggles to readapt to normal life. The Avengers decide they will stand beside their team mate through the recovery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Research and Rediscovery

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for the switch. I ultimately decided I did not want to risk harming the first chapter if this flops or doesn't follow through.

 

 

> Hulk and Bruce Banner had shown up to help The Avengers win against Galactus.

But by no means did that mean everything was back to normal. In the weeks between freedom and Galactus- The Hulk was kind enough to get Bruce some ‘Alone time’ to figure everything out. The green guy went back to being benched and let Bruce have control.   
In Ross’s custody Bruce managed to hide most of the events  from the other guy- The Hulk was completely oblivious to the time that passed or the thoughts in Bruce’s mind. For the healing, Banner prefered it the same way.  Not completely shielded Hulk would have his own nightmares.  
  
Bruce retreated to the cabin that he once inhabited full time. The events of the day would fall into a routine- Bruce would gain mere hours of sleep during the night. just before sunrise he would take a hike to a stream near by and watch the warm colors fill the sky. Once the sun was free from the horizon, Bruce would gather some berries from the wild bushes and fill a bottle with fresh water from the creek. Once his stomach was filled he would  start with yoga and stretching. The next few hours after the bath contained fishing and cooking the fish for lunch. A little bit more yoga before moving to check his rabbit traps. If Bruce caught something- lounging was in order. If he did not- He needed to hunt his food. Bruce happily watched the sunset and then studied the stars. When Bruce finally laid down- nightmares and bad memories kept him on edge.  
The routine would restart.  
Bruce sought  solitude in an attempt to try and function again, though very little was helping him. He knew however that it could not continue as it had before the fight. The Hulk was getting cranky and he missed Cupid and the rest of them.  
  
Bruce Banner faded behind the Hulk and let the Avenger continue life. He resumed watching- but this time it was not the same.

* * *

  
A week passed since the Galactus incident. The Hulk was rather happy sitting on the roof of the Avenger’s mansion. Tony had gotten him a treat- a party sized bag of Mcdonald’s cheeseburgers. The Avengers had been rather ‘overly’ friendly and it caused Hulk to feel rather paranoid. With weeks missing from his mind, and Banner remained shut up in the back of his mind. It was lonely.  
“Hey big guy” A voice chimed from the door. Green eyes glanced at the man with facial hair. Hulk let out a small noise of greeting as he continued to eat. “I guess you like those burgers, everything okay?”  
  
“Fine.”  
  
“And what about Bruce?” Tony asked suddenly. Hulk did not respond. Tony’s smile dropped as he now moved to join the Hulk. “Is he okay?”  
  
“Hulk doesn’t know.”  The large green man stopped eating and stared at the pool, by this point Tony had joined him.

“What do you remember- from-” Tony was trying to ask gently about the time locked up.

“No, collar kept me down” He was losing his appetite. “I slept.” Slept sounded very easy. He was more or less heavily sedated and remembered very little. The pain that Bruce carried around was easy to see.

“What about now? What does Banner say now?”

“Nothing… He’s quiet” The Hulk mumbled, now setting the burger down on the rest of the bag.

“May I speak to him?” Tony questioned gently- noting the green man turning his head presumably to talk to the original personality.

  
Banner spoke from the chair to he right of Hulk. ‘No. Hulk, I do not want to talk.’ Bruce was unable to look at the two,  
  
‘Why not?’ Hulk asked out loud. Thankfully at this point the Avengers were used to only hearing one side of the conversation.  
  
‘Because I don’t want to talk about it’ Bruce’s voice was harsh- A tone that was rarely used when they talked to each other.  
  
“What did he say?” Tony asked after a solid moment of silence.  
   
“Banner says ‘No’.’” Hulk spoke gruffly.  
  
“Hulk, He may not be okay, can you give me any sort of information?” Tony tried his best to be gentle to the green man who seemed a little upset now. This topic was next to impossible to tip-toe around.  
  
"Bruce is mad"  
  
“Bruce, I know you are listening.” Tony started speaking in a louder voice. He followed the Hulk's glance at the chair. “You’ve been through a lot, We can help you sort everything out inside. You can talk to us, We are a team and there for each other” The playboy pleaded.   
  
‘Thirteen weeks- I was left in there.’ Bruce uttered in a soft tone to the man who could not hear him.  
  
“Bruce said ‘Thirteen weeks he was left there.” Hulk translated when Tony looked to him waiting for any sign of hearing him.  
  
“Bruce, I had no idea Skrull Steve did that-” Tony addressed the chair.   
  
'I don't care!' Bruce growled at Tony forgetting that the Hulk was the only one who could hear him.  
  
“Banner said ‘I don’t care’” Hulk cut the man off- still tense from Bruces tone. The Hulk was not used to Banner being emotional. The scientist was always calm and collected.  
  
“Hulk-” Tony attempted.   
  
“No. Banner is done. I am done.” The green giant stood, one hand grabbed the burger while the other grabbed the bag. “He doesn't want to talk” Hulk headed towards the stairs, leaving Tony staring at his back.

Tony only got up once Hulk was back inside. He took a minute to gather his thoughts, staring at the city lights. Bruce Banner didn't seem to be okay in any sense of the word. Upon freeing Bruce, the army sealed the records of the time in captivity up. If Tony ever hoped to get ahold of the information he would need to grease some wheels very well in top command. The president was kind enough to issue the pardon but that was the extent of what he would do in the controversial matter. Tony and Steve gathered enough information from his reaction and the time after with the Red Hulk to assume a lot.   
Tony pulled out his Avenger card. A minor tweak of the card and the message would only be received by those on the premises- One more minor tweak and the Hulk did not receive the message.  
"Avengers, I need you in the missions room." Despite heading over almost immediately, Steve was already in the room. Hank and Jan would be in moments after whereas Thor and Clint would take a solid few extra minutes to pull themselves in.

“Okay, Our friend needs our help.” Tony started. The brown eyes traced around the circle, making eye contact with each set of eyes. He was sitting with the original Avengers. T’Challa was home, Vision was in preoccupied and Carol was with SWORD.

“Where is the Hulk?” Clint asked, glancing around. Clint was smart enough to gather that the newer three had other priorities- but the Hulk only ever left when he pulled him out.

“That is why we are here. JARVIS tells me that the Hulk is not only sleeping more, but he is eating less, more irritable, and is less interested in his 'hobbies'. We don't know what happened in the cube, but with how the Hulk has been acting and how it seems like Banner is reacting- I think the Hulk is showing signs of depression. Call it a hunch. If the man didn’t come out without a disorder I would believe he wouldn’t be normal."  
  
Steve’s eyes stared at the center of the table. The Skrull invasion was still fresh in his own mind. “Thirteen weeks… I have watched even the toughest soldiers crack… I don’t think General Ross pulled any punches in his treatment to Bruce. He tried to replace him afterall.”  Steve understood the place Bruce may be in.  
  
“There has to be something we can do?” Jan was trying to be optimistic.  
  
“We can’t force a man to accept help. Banner wouldn't come out” Tony wished he had tried harder.   
  
“Then we need to make him come out.” Clint was positive they could convince the Hulk to kick Bruce's personality into the dominate position.   
  
“My friend- I fear that may make things worse” The god with few people skills even knew better.  
  
“We all need to be aware of the situation. We all need to make Bruce comfortable. The Hulk was sedated via the dampeners through the ordeal. From the sound of it when I spoke to Hulk earlier- Bruce is trying to take on his demons alone. I believe this has caused some mental damage in Bruce and in this depression I believe it is leaking into the Hulk’s mind,”  Tony was lost at what to do. “He needs support. First off- remain friends with the Hulk- remind him his friends are here. Try to talk to Banner and get him to come out.” 

“Does he blame me?” Steve would not take his eyes off of the table despite becoming the center of the table.

“I think he blames all of us. He-" Tony gave a frustrated sigh trying to formulate the correct words. "We all thought we could get him out sooner- fact of the matter is that he spent ninety-one days in Ross’s control, hoping we would show up. At some point he gave up- but we did get him back. There is no time to dwell on the past. We have personal missions, we need to bring back the team. Our personal missions are to bring them both personalities out and help them fight the demons. Avengers dismissed."  
  


* * *

  
Hulk was able to physically and mentally sleep, Bruce found no such comfort. Any time that the scientist shut his eyes- memories would haunt him and push him back into reality. Dreamland nor reality brought him any comfort. Since Hulk still managed to sleep- Bruce took control of the body. Large green muscles shrank into fragile pale flesh. One feeling that did bring comfort was being a physical being. Bruce took a moment to stretch before sitting up. The bed made him feel like a child again, Bruce could only guess that Tony had special ordered it. Crawling across the bed Bruise discovered that he could not leave the room in his current attire. Hulk's purple pants were left beside the bed and Bruce set out on a search for his clothes. The hoodie and jeans were found in a crumpled mess on the closet floor.  
  
 _‘Tap - Tap - Tap’_  
  
Bruce had barely registered the sound. It took him a moment to connect the soft sound to the door. At eleven o’clock in the evening, half the Avengers would be in for private time. Bruce quickly pulled his boxers up followed by the jeans and slipped the hoodies and paddled to the door to find Steve on the otherside.  
“Steve” Bruce could not hide the inflection of surprise. He noted the soldier’s shoulders drop a half a centimeter. “I didn't mean it like that” Bruce tried to be polite.  
  
“It's okay. I didn't expect you to be you. Last I heard you wouldn't come out.” It was almost painful to see the incredible Captain America looking as low as he did. “Bruce, we need to talk,”  
  
“Talk? Its kind of late-” Bruce rubbed his forehead reluctantly.   
  
“Bruce, I have a feeling I was once seen as a friend, Please at least allow me to talk for old times sake? Just this once?” Bruce was unable to deny the man.   
  
“Okay Steve. Not here. Anywhere but Hulk’s room.”   
  
“Understood,  Would the quinjet bay be a decent spot,” Steve wanted to pick neutral and private grounds for the talk. Bruce nodded.  
  
The two men walked in silence to reach the large body of water. Bruce broke the stride with Steve to take a seat at the end of the path dangling his feet above the water.  
“The Skrull invasion- You were not the only one affected.” Steve started, This was a man who had been abducted and locked in a prison, while his friends ran around with an imposter. No one had looked for him.  
“Bruce” Steve sighed, looking for words.  “I’m sorry,  I’m sorry the Skrull used my appearance to take you down-”

“Steve-”

“Bruce, Let me talk. I’m sorry this happened to you. Just know we did everything we could as fast as we could. At first we didn't realize Ross had you. We did leave you for weeks but we also got you back.  Words won't help the pain- but you need to know there's always a light in the dark." Steve closed the distance between them and placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "The Skrull had me- My friends had no idea and if they did, they would have ran to my aid. Our group may have special power or strengths- but most of us are human. Being human means you make mistakes. The ones that are not- get confused about our humanity and may not understand. The only thing I can tell you is to not dote on the past. My friends are my light in the dark. They got me through the darkness before- They can do it again. You will find your light. I hope you at least know you are not alone.” For the first time Bruce made eye contact with Steve. He did not regret it because he was rewarded with a warm smile. "Thank you for letting me talk Bruce. Have a good night" The eyecontact broke, Steve gave Bruce's shoulder another pat before moving to return to the common areas. Bruce would remain at the spot for a moment longer.

 

 

Steve ended up being right regarding neural grounds. The man was wrong however about the space being unoccupied. Clint was not a spy, (Well, technically not anymore) So it was a mere coincidence that the man had picked the room moments before for some alone time. Why Clint didn’t make his presence known when the two entered even baffled himself. Maybe it was genuine curiosity- but it was too late. Clint had sat under the walkway, quietly listening to Steve Roger’s story.   
Now the room held Clint and Bruce. The conversation made Clint think. Just as Clint pulled himself onto the main walkway- Bruce had already turned and was heading out the door.  
  
  
Bruce led the trek to the pool on the roof. There would be no way he could sleep- so it was time for a late night swim. Swimming would be the closest he could get to the wildness since the New York lights killed the night sky. Bruce moved to the edge of the water and glanced down at the lit waters. Hulk constantly talked about the ‘lake’ on the roof. Now would be the time to try the waters. “Alrighty then” Bruce smirked.  
Bruce had already stripped the hoodie off as Clint arrived. Once the jeans were off, the crumpled clothes were thrown onto Jan's usual chair. 

  
The two months had not been kind to Bruce. Clint’s eyes caught every detail of Bruce’s body in the glow of the urban lights. He was skinnier- sickly skinny, All of his joints and bones jutted out. Something that the oversized hoodies and oversized pants could hide- even from Clint's observant eyes.

  
Bruce dove into the deep end. Bruce understood why the Hulk loved the pool so much, suspended in weightlessness- all the sounds of the city became muted under water. Stark spared no expenses on the pool- No chemicals were present, the light was evenly dispensed, and most of all the pool was heated. Bruce would remained under the water until his lungs cried for air. Pushing from the bottom Bruce shot to the surface gasping for air. During the moments Bruce was under the water, Clint had taken his seat beside the pool in his chair.  
  
“It’s amazing what you people do when you think you're alone. Never pictured you swimming in your boxers this late” Clint's eyes could not help but drop to the light markings on the man’s body. Sickness filled his chest.

“I don’t see what I am doing different from the  Hulk. Good to know you haven't lost your spying ability.” The voice started as calm and switched to harsh half way through.  This helped Clint pull his eyes away from Bruce’s chest and not look up.

“Ouch, harsh"

“How long have you been watching me?”  
  
“Did you want the truth or a lie?”  
  
“The Truth” Bruce hissed as his patience dwindling.   
  
“You and Captain invaded on my privacy in the Quinjet bay” There was an immediate change in Bruce’s demeanor, This brought Clint to attention immediately. Bruce was losing his cool- the anger was peaking. He remained his pale self. It dawned on Clint that this Bruce was the opposite of the man he had sat in the fishing boat with. Clint recognized the man desperately struggling to keep calm despite the Hulk being an Avenger. Before the Hulk would have been changing but here Bruce remained Bruce Banner.  
  
“Is the Hulk okay?” Clint’s voice was soft as he sat at attention.   
  
“He is fine. Sleeping. I want to keep it that way.” Bruce was still struggling to keep calm.   
  
Clint at this point stood and moved to the edge of the pool. In one swift movement Clint dropped down and sat on the age- sticking his legs in the water despite still wearing the purple pants he loved.  
“Bruce, I am sorry.” Clint leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and looking into Bruce’s eyes. The hands moved and placed themselves on Bruce’s face. His thumbs placed themselves on the man’s face, his thumbs pressed themselves on the man’s cheekbones, close to his ears. The pointer finger tips gently pressed to the temples and started to gently rubbed. As Bruce seemed to calm down- Clint slowly moved his fingers up along his hairline- inch by inch until they met at his forehead. Bruce was now calm and leaning into his touch.  
“I assume you are feeling calmer” Clint’s voice was gentle- the attitude was locked away.

“I am.” Bruce’s voice was soft once again and that made things easier.  
  
“You are not the same man from the boat.”  
  
“I'm not.”  
  
“I am correct in thinking this is a result of Ross and what happened in confinement?”  
  
“Correct.”  
  
“I’m sorry” He pulled the man’s head forehead against his own.  
  
“It all proves what you said… I am not an avenger. I can be cast away- and the sad truth is I will come crawling back because this is what the Hulk needs and deserves.”   
  


“Bruce,” Clint was at a loss for words. Bruce’s sad eyes were inches apart, their foreheads lightly pressed against each other. “Bruce- Sorry...”  
  
“I asked for the truth Clint” Bruce pulled his face back, Clint dropped his hands and continued to watch the man.  
  
“You are and Hulk are counted as one entity so you are also an Avenger-”

“Stop.” Banner for the first time in months looked at the blonde and took a moment to memorize his face. He never wanted to experience ‘not remembering’ someone’s face again. “Clint. Thank you for becoming the Hulk’s best friend. I owe you for being there for him and taking care of him.” Bruce pulled back and turned to climb the stairs. He  almost regretted step out into the chilly late night air. “Don’t worry about me. Hulk is what matters- The pardon has helped his self image. Thank you.” Bruce swiped his clothes from the chair and headed inside- leaving Clint at the poolside.  
The body needed rest and Bruce wanted to be anything but social. He was fast to retreat to privacy.  
  
Bruce ended the night by slipping his pants on and moving to return to the Hulk's room. Bruce was thankful that the Hulk's morphing of physics caused only mere light scars to remain from the testing. This late and in such low lighting if he ran into anyone- no one would notice the marks. It was bad enough Hawkeye noted them.  
A hot shower later and Bruce was cleaned up. The scientist turned off the lights and crawled back into bed wearing the Hulk's pants again.

**Author's Note:**

> Please forgive me if this seems dull or boring. I wanted to set everything up for future chapters. 
> 
> Please leave me all comments (Praise or Constructive criticism) that cross your mind. Comments and Kudos will keep me going in writing.


End file.
